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Olivia Hussey joins 1066 cast

By:
WENN.com Source
May 22, 2012

The Argentina-born star, who shot to fame after playing Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 classic Romeo &amp; Juliet, has been brought out of semi-retirement to play Countess Gytha in the star-studded period war film.
Announcing the casting news on Monday (21May12), 1066 director Robin Jacob tells WENN, "We are extremely happy to announce the attachment of Ms Olivia Hussey to the 1066 Project. Countess Gytha was the wife of Earl Godwin, the powerful leader of the Godwin dynasty and mother to future King Harold ll; she was an immensely strong woman who had some incredible life experiences that shaped her character.
"I believe that Olivia will bring Gytha to life, she is a tremendously versatile actress with the depth and substance that is essential to the role."
The film, an "historically accurate portrayal of almost half a century of intrigue, the people, politics and power struggles that lead to the great battle at Hastings on October 14th 1066 between King Harold II and William Duke of Normandy", also features British stars Susan George, Lewis Collins, John Altman and Matt Fiddes, who was formerly Michael Jackson's bodyguard.

The Second Annual Comedy Awards aired on Comedy Central May 6, but when the action went down on April 28 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York for the taping of the show, Hollywood.com was on the scene to get backstage funnies from some of the top names in comedy. Now, that we've all recovered from our first round of giggle fits, prepare for round two: Quotes from your favorite funny people. Keep this up, and we'll all be rocking six packs in no time!
Robin Williams on modern technology:
"[I have an idea for] a Blackberry app, it's called the Moral GPS. 'The girl your hitting on is the same age as your daughter, re-route.'"
Louis CK on Winning All the Comedy Awards:
"I'd be crazy if I left here with [these awards] and said, 'Now there's no stopping me!' ... This is a weird thing for me, it doesn't fit into any natural function. It's like if I got asked to go be an accountant ... I'm just not great at, I think some people are probably better at it."
Amy Poehler and Robin William on Why They Don't Do Twitter:
"Twitter sounds like a nightmare .... that just sounds like a mistake waiting to happen." -Poehler
"I tried Twitter once and I had one tweet. It was 'I'm on the road' and then I gave up." -Williams
Parks and Recreation Creator Mike Schur on the Potential for Next Season:
"Our plan is to make it about 40 percent worse, but that could change."
Aisha Tyler on Why Archer Won Best Animated Comedy:
"Nudity always wins ... this is like Jesse Owens winning the 1936 Olympics."
Robin Williams on Small Comedy Clubs:
"When you see these guys in a small venue ... it's like seeing jazz ... before cell phones, before tweets, when you saw it, that was it."
Rob Riggle on the 21 Jump Street Sequel:
"Please, Jonah. Let me back in."
John Oliver on Lindsay Lohan's Attendance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner:
"I think somehow we are failing as a society, each and every one of us, if Lindsay Lohan is a presence in that room. I feel like we’ve all let America down in a way that we’ve let this happen. I feel some responsibility … You’ve just broken my heart."
Wendi McLendon-Covey on Bridesmaids' Many Comedy Awards Nominations:
"Let’s just say it. I’m gonna be honest, I’m gonna truthify. We deserve it."
Follow Kelsea on Twitter @KelseaStahler.
More:
John Oliver on Lindsay Lohan's White House Correspondents' Dinner Invite
John Oliver: The Internet is 'Killing' Community
SNL Recap: Eli Manning Scores, Martin Scorsese Surprises
[Image: Comedy Central]

In a post-Harry Potter Avatar and Lord of the Rings world the descriptors "sci-fi" and "fantasy" conjure up particular imagery and ideas. The Hunger Games abolishes those expectations rooting its alternate universe in a familiar reality filled with human characters tangible environments and terrifying consequences. Computer graphics are a rarity in writer/director Gary Ross' slow-burn thriller wisely setting aside effects and big action to focus on star Jennifer Lawrence's character's emotional struggle as she embarks on the unthinkable: a 24-person death match on display for the entire nation's viewing pleasure. The final product is a gut-wrenching mature young adult fiction adaptation diffused by occasional meandering but with enough unexpected choices to keep audiences on their toes.
Panem a reconfigured post-apocalyptic America is sectioned off into 12 unique districts and ruled under an iron thumb by the oppressive leaders of The Capitol. To keep the districts producing their specific resources and prevent them from rebelling The Capitol created The Hunger Games an annual competition pitting two 18-or-under "tributes" from each district in a battle to the death. During the ritual tribute "Reaping " teenage Katniss (Lawrence) watches as her 12-year-old sister Primrose is chosen for battle—and quickly jumps to her aid becoming the first District 12 citizen to volunteer for the games. Joined by Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) a meek baker's son and the second tribute Effie the resident designer and Haymitch a former Hunger Games winner-turned-alcoholic-turned-mentor Katniss rides off to The Capitol to train and compete in the 74th Annual Hunger Games.
The greatest triumph of The Hunger Games is Ross' rich realization of the book's many worlds: District 12 is painted as a reminiscent Southern mining town haunting and vibrant; The Capitol is a utopian metropolis obsessed with design and flair; and The Hunger Games battleground is a sprawling forest peppered with Truman Show-esque additions that remind you it's all being controlled by overseers. The small-scale production value adds to the character-first approach and even when the story segues to larger arenas like a tickertape parade in The Capitol's grand Avenue of Tributes hall it's all about Katniss.
For fans the script hits every beat a nearly note-for-note interpretation of author Suzanne Collins' original novel—but those unfamiliar shouldn't worry about missing anything. Ross knows his way around a sharp screenplay (he's the writer of Big Pleasantville and Seabiscuit) and he's comfortable dropping us right into the action. His characters are equally as colorful as Panem Harrelson sticking out as the former tribute enlivened by the chance to coach winners. He's funny he's discreet he's shaded—a quality all the cast members share. As a director Ross employs a distinct often-grating perspective. His shaky cam style emphasizes the reality of the story but in fight scenarios—and even simple establishing shots of District 12's goings-on—the details are lost in motion blur.
But the dread of the scenario is enough to make Hunger Games an engrossing blockbuster. The lead-up to the actual competition is an uncomfortable and biting satire of reality television sports and everything that commands an audience in modern society. Katniss' brooding friend Gale tells her before she departs "What if nobody watched?" speculating that carnage might end if people could turn away. Unfortunately they can't—forcing Katniss and Peeta to become "stars" of the Hunger Games. The duo are pushed to gussy themselves up put on a show and play up their romance for better ratings. Lawrence channels her reserved Academy Award-nominated Winter's Bone character to inhabit Katniss' frustration with the system. She's great at hunting but she doesn't want to kill. She's compassionate and considerate but has no interest in bowing down to the system. She's a leader but she knows full well she's playing The Capitol's game. Even with 23 other contestants vying for the top spot—like American Idol with machetes complete with Ryan Seacrest stand-in Caesar Flickerman (the dazzling Stanley Tucci)—Katniss' greatest hurdle is internal. A brave move for a movie aimed at a young audience.
By the time the actual Games roll around (the movie clocks in at two and a half hours) there's a need to amp up the pace that never comes and The Hunger Games loses footing. Katniss' goal is to avoid the action hiding in trees and caves waiting patiently for the other tributes to off themselves—but the tactic isn't all that thrilling for those watching. Luckily Lawrence Hutcherson and the ensemble of young actors still deliver when they cross paths and particular beats pack all the punch an all-out deathwatch should. PG-13 be damned the film doesn't skimp on the bloodshed even when it comes to killing off children. The Hunger Games bites off a lot for the first film of a franchise and does so bravely and boldly. It may not make it to the end alive but it doesn't go down without a fight.
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Earlier this year, the CW picked up a heap of new shows, including the superhero series Arrow. Like the CW's Smallville, the new show is inspired by a D.C. comic book series (Green Arrow), and will expand on the character and world created in the comics.
In January, Arrow was given its first cast member: Stephen Amell. He plays the lead: billionaire Oliver Queen/super-vigilante the Green Arrow. Although Amell has had guest and supporting roles on a slew of television programs, most notably HBO's Hung—on which he played an "up-and-coming" prostitute and rival in the business to hero Ray (Thomas Jane). Amell's Arrow character looks to be far closer to The Hunger Games than to Hung. As you can see below, Amell sports the dark, threatening look of a modern day Robin Hood, complete with an archery set that is likely to cause a few of Star City's criminals a great deal of pain. But is Amell as adept an archer as THG star Jennifer Lawrence?
David Nutter, who worked on Smallville, is directing the pilot for Arrow. Katie Cassidy will star opposite Amell as his love interest, lawyer Dinah Laurel Lance. Source: Chicago Tribune

The actor, who played 'Nasty' Nick Cotton on U.K. soap Eastenders has signed on to play Earl Leofric of Mercia in 1066.
Announcing the news of his latest casting coup, director Robin Jacob tells WENN, "We are very pleased to announce John's involvement in 1066. He is a great actor who will bring his wealth of experience to the set."
His new film character, Earl Leofric, was one of the most powerful members of the council of Anglo Saxon Earls, clergy and nobles known as the Witan.
Former child star Lester was one of the first people cast in the film - he will portray King Henry II. The movie will also feature Susan George, Lewis Collins and Finding Neverland actress Kate Maberly.

In This Means War – a stylish action/rom-com hybrid from director McG – Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) and Chris Pine (Star Trek) star as CIA operatives whose close friendship is strained by the fires of romantic rivalry. Best pals FDR (Pine) and Tuck (Hardy) are equally accomplished at the spy game but their fortunes diverge dramatically in the dating realm: FDR (so nicknamed for his obvious resemblance to our 32nd president) is a smooth-talking player with an endless string of conquests while Tuck is a straight-laced introvert whose love life has stalled since his divorce. Enter Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) a pretty plucky consumer-products evaluator who piques both their interests in separate unrelated encounters. Tuck meets her via an online-dating site FDR at a video-rental store. (That Lauren is tech-savvy enough to date online but still rents movies in video stores is either a testament to her fascinating mix of contradictions or more likely an example of lazy screenwriting.)
When Tuck and FDR realize they’re pursuing the same girl it sparks their respective competitive natures and they decide to make a friendly game of it. But what begins as a good-natured rivalry swiftly devolves into romantic bloodsport with both men using the vast array of espionage tools at their disposal – from digital surveillance to poison darts – to gain an edge in the battle for Lauren’s affections. If her constitutional rights happen to be violated repeatedly in the process then so be it.
Lauren for her part remains oblivious to the clandestine machinations of her dueling suitors and happily basks in the sudden attention from two gorgeous men. Herein we find the Reese Witherspoon Dilemma: While certainly desirable Lauren is far from the irresistible Helen of Troy type that would inspire the likes of Tuck and FDR to risk their friendship their careers and potential incarceration for. At several points in This Means War I found myself wondering if there were no other peppy blondes in Los Angeles (where the film is primarily set) for these men to pursue. Then again this is a film that wishes us to believe that Tom Hardy would have trouble finding a date so perhaps plausibility is not its strong point.
When Lauren needs advice she looks to her boozy foul-mouthed best friend Trish (Chelsea Handler). Essentially an extension of Handler’s talk-show persona – an acquired taste if there ever was one – Trish’s dialogue consists almost exclusively of filthy one-liners delivered in rapid-fire succession. Handler does have some choice lines – indeed they’re practically the centerpiece of This Means War’s ad campaign – but the film derives the bulk of its humor from the outrageous lengths Tuck and FDR go to sabotage each others’ efforts a raucous game of spy-versus-spy that carries the film long after Handler’s shtick has grown stale.
Business occasionally intrudes upon matters in the guise of Heinrich (Til Schweiger) a Teutonic arms dealer bent on revenge for the death of his brother. The subplot is largely an afterthought existing primarily as a means to provide third-act fireworks – and to allow McGenius an outlet for his ADD-inspired aesthetic proclivities. The film’s action scenes are edited in such a manic quick-cut fashion that they become almost laughably incoherent. In fairness to McG he does stage a rather marvelous sequence in the middle of the film in which Tuck and FDR surreptitiously skulk about Lauren's apartment unaware of each other's presence carefully avoiding detection by Lauren who grooves absentmindedly to Montel Jordan's "This Is How We Do It." The whole scene unfolds in one continuous take – or is at least craftily constructed to appear as such – captured by one very agile steadicam operator.
Whatever his flaws as a director McG is at least smart enough to know how much a witty script and appealing leads can compensate for a film’s structural and logical deficiencies. He proved as much with Charlie’s Angels a film that enjoys a permanent spot on many a critic’s Guilty Pleasures list and does so again with This Means War. The film coasts on the chemistry of its three co-stars and only runs into trouble when the time comes to resolve its romantic competition which by the end has driven its male protagonists to engage in all manner of underhanded and duplicitous activities. This Means War being a commercial film – and likely an expensive one at that – Witherspoon's heroine is mandated to make a choice and McG all but sidesteps the whole thorny matter of Tuck and FDR’s unwavering dishonesty not to mention their craven disregard for her privacy. (They regularly eavesdrop on her activities.) For all their obvious charms the truth is that neither deserves Lauren – or anything other than a lengthy jail sentence for that matter.
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The trailers for the upcoming In Time may have you believing that stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried are stuck in one giant "there's no time!" chase sequence. You'd only be partially right. This couple of beautiful people are most definitely on the run, but with a greater purpose.
Every human on the planet, including the sprinting duo, is born with a ticking clock, an implant that acts as both their life's countdown clock and their wallet (in this world, time is currency). Nefarious circumstances force the duo to constantly search for a few more minutes, but the danger also inspires them to Robin Hood the rich (who have centuries worth of time on their clocks) and spread the wealth. Er, hours. They're bank robbers—and the newfound occupation elevates them to what is known in the movie world as "Bonnie and Clyde" status. Thanks to the lawless world of movies, two turn-of-the-century criminals have been immortalized, with Timberlake and Seyfried being the latest to keep the thieving dream alive.
Obviously, they aren't the first (but may be the most futuristic?). Here are a few examples of couples who make doing bad oh so good:
Pulp Fiction's Pumpkin and Honey Bunny
We don’t know a good deal about who “Pumpkin” and “Honey Bunny” are, or what brings them to the Hawthorne Grill that eventful morning. But aside from an offhanded remark about not particularly wanting to kill anybody, we can tell that the two of them are none too averse to a life of criminal activity (they might have undergone a change of heart after a run-in with Jules Winnfield, however). It seems the two are most amorous when they’re about to pull a job. In fact, it might be this life of crime that is, in fact, holding their love together. Thus, a more Bonnie and Clyde-esque pair you’d be hard-pressed to find.
Duplicity's Ray and Claire
Ray and Claire may be just as confused by one another's hazy allegiances as the audience watching this mind-bending romantic thriller. Throughout the movie, their relationship intertwines, doubles back and disintegrates over many years and many cooperate invasions. By the end, they're working together (or are they?!) to infiltrate and profit from their big business employers—but find themselves screwed by another unseen force. Thanks to Julia Roberts and Clive Owen's genuine chemistry, the only thing that doesn't feel like an espionage maneuver is the two's lust. But even then…
Fun with Dick and Jane's Dick and Jane
Dick and Jane Harper begin their cinematic adventures as your average married couple—their financially well-off, passionless, hardly the criminal type. Once Dick’s evil conglomerate lets most of its employees go, the two resort to robbery—ranging from quiet stickups at the ATM to the carefully-plotted takedown of Dick’s billionaire ex-employer—which, incidentally, ups the ante in their own personal zests for living. This simple suburban married couple, played by Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni, get a healthy dose of Bonnie and Clyde in Dean Parisot’s Fun with Dick and Jane.
Natural Born Killers' Mickey and Mallory
When it comes to couples who fuel their love life with crime, you’re bound to expect a little darkness. But even Bonnie and Clyde themselves would shudder at the activities of Mickey and Mallory Knox in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers. From the moment of Mickey’s romantic—wait, no…horrifying—rescue of Mallory from her abusive parents, the two spend their life on the run from the law, committing murder after murder in the name of whatever they claim to believe in. It may be even beyond the wheelhouse of cinema’s most iconic criminal couple, but the roots of Mickey and Mallory are certainly planted in Bonnie and Clyde: they’re the bad guys. But they’re the bad guys together. So it’s kind of sweet—wait, no…horrifying.
Knight and Day's Roy and June
Roy and June may not pilfer the innocent, but they are a couple that spends a majority of their time on the run, firing guns amongst bystanders and escaping from sticky situations just in the nick of time. Sounds like a Bonnie &amp; Clyde duo if there ever was one.
And they do do quite a bit of stealing: The secret agent and his blonde bombshell captive hunt, nab and protect a tiny trinket called the Zephyr, a never-ending battery capable of powering pretty much anything. The tricky part of their renegade romance is that neither really knows when one is going go backstab the other. Being a couple's a lot easier when both people have the same agenda, even if that agenda's robbing banks.
True Romance' Clarence and Alabama
Clarence and Alabama are guilty of plenty: prostitution, drug possession, murder, Sonny Chiba fandom. But their intentions are never quite criminal...it's all just a means to the truly romantic end of spending their lives together. Caught up in a runaway life, the couple portrayed by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette in this Tony Scott film exemplify the downward spiral that is the Bonnie and Clyde lifestyle. At the beginning of the film, Clarence is a simple video store clerk—but his love for Alabama, and possibly impassioned sensibilities over this new life of danger, have launched him and his call girl soul mate into an inescapable life of crime.
Bonnie and Clyde's Bonnie and Clyde
We're certainly not going to compile a tribute to Bonnie and Clyde couples and not include the definitive Bonnie and Clyde. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway inhabited the notorious crime couple and helped define the pair as symbols of counter culture. They were in love…but they also shot tommy guns and stole people's hard-earned cash. Back in 1967, Bonnie and Clyde shocked the nation. Now, anti-heroes are perfectly acceptable—to the point that Bonnie and Clyde may not even deserve the "anti" in their label!

1982’s Conan the Barbarian, starring the magical Arnold Schwarzenegger, was on heavy rotation in my stepfather’s VHS player when I was a kid. I’m not entirely sure why we loved it so much, but we surely loved it. I know it’s difficult to imagine a time when Arnold didn’t loom in the cultural landscape—even during his fallow days of Jingle all the Way, End of Days, Junior and Batman and Robin, he held special place in the celebrity pantheon. One that was a little silly, a little tough, and only marginally comprehensible. Annoyingly enough he had to fall back down to Earth when he played the role of a lifetime: the main character in a wildly staged takeover of the top office in California politics. Or a recall election. Or something. Anyhow, it told us all something that we already knew if we’d seen Arnold’s real silver screen debut in Pumping Iron that he’s an Austrian man with a plan.
But back in 1982, before The Terminator, before Predator and Commando and even before Twins, there came Conan. Conan. Oh, Conan. A pulp hero whose whole deal was that he was big and strong and didn’t mind cutting a guy from crotch to throat, ripping out his tongue and throwing it to the starving dogs in the corner. But he also has a bruiser’s intelligence, that kind of thick-necked thoughtfulness an MLB slugger brings to the plate. Most importantly, however, Conan has the physique of, well, a bodybuilder.
Enter Arnold. You can barely understand what he says. He has four facial expressions, and two of them are subsets of “grimace.” But he’s got huge pectoral muscles and some strange kind of intelligence lurking behind those deep-set eyes. He was born to play Conan.
Director John Milius was born to direct the thing as well. John Milius stories are legendary in Hollywood. In the 70s, asthmatic film geeks like Scorsese, spindly film geeks like Spielberg and radically socially awkward film geeks like Lucas could be both cult and box office heroes at the same time—but for all their success, they were still just nerds. John Milius was not a nerd. He was a badass and just to prove it he would carry a gun. That bad boy ruined many a Malibu party by pulling out his .38 and taking pot shots at the cocaine room. Okay, okay, Milius was rejected from the marines because he had asthma too, but the point is he wanted to join the marines. In Hearts of Darkness, the somewhat cloying documentary on the making of Apocalypse Now, Milius talks through a stuffed up nose about the heavily militaristic ending he’d written for the film. An ending like that would break the delicate moral artifact Francis Ford Coppola hoped to build, but it was perfect for the pulpy black and white of Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian.
Of course Milius couldn’t do it all on his own. He had to enlist the similarly tough genuine veteran Oliver Stone. Togethe,r they reworked an earlier script into a lean, mean, fighting machine. They retained Howard’s almost Jungian terminology: Wheel of Pain, Riddle of Steel, Eye of the Serpent, Mountain of Power. That’s almost a map to the monomyth right there.
Together Stone and Milius honed the legend of Conan as the thinking man’s barbarian. A bloodthirsty bruiser with a wounded heart and a penchant for guerilla warfare, Che Guevara-style. Oh, and he’s a sex god. Did I mention he’s a sex god? I only point this out because one of the things he accomplishes is killing a evil cult leader’s gigantic snake-pet who previously killed his mom. And somewhere Freud facepalms.
The arc Stone and Milius craft for Conan is so classic and so strong that it manages to get us on his side even though we can’t really understand what he’s saying most of the time. Although when Arnold needs to land it, he lands it. The tag line of “Thief, Warrior, Gladiator, King” really does offer up Conan’s journey. I can only hope that the new one will do as well. I have my worries, naturally.
There’s a lot of talk about the new Conan movie and how Jason Momoa will be oh-so-awesome because he can act. Yeah, I saw Game of Thrones, and I saw him act, and he can sure act up a storm when he isn’t speaking English—which puts him on par with Arnold in at least one respect. But the point of Conan isn’t acting or back-story or all of those delicate emotional lines that filmmakers seem to want to draw nowadays. Conan is about big and mythic and broad lines that are really heavy and sharp and can probably cut a bad guy from—
—wait, wait, I’m being bugged by Conan. He’s literally staring at me right now. What’s that Conan? What is best in life? Conan! What is best in life? No no, I know this one.
“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.”
That’s what’s best in life, Conan. Now go battle hordes of darkness.

Make sure to check out Part 1 of our San Diego Comic-Con Preview!
The weekend’s here, which means only two more days of the Con left to go!
Saturday, July 23 - Comic-Con Day 3: The Search for Spock
Saturday T.V. begins with some spy geekery…
NBC’s Chuck has enjoyed a constant stay of execution and its due to a devoted cult following that is sure to be coming to the "Chuck Screening and Q&amp;A” at Ballroom 20 at 10AM. Co–creator, Chris Fedak, along with stars Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Josh Gomez, Adam Baldwin, and more will be on hand in celebration of the show’s fandom and final season.
This is not a Land of the Lost remake…
After a brief delay to make sure the effects looked right, Fox and Steven Spielberg’s Terra Nova, is here and being previewed at Comic-Con! Brought to you by the creator of the hugely underrated The 4400, executive producer Rene Echevarria, comes exclusive footage of the series that is sure to captivate sci–fans and dinosaur lovers everywhere.
V for Twixt? Oliver Twixt? Mr. Coppola comes to Comic-Con…
Many moviegoers, comic book fans and non, consider The Godfather, and The Godfather II, amongst some of the greatest movies ever made. While director Francis Ford Coppola has been off shooting small indies for the last few years, but now he’s teaming up with Val Kilmer and Elle Fanning for Twixt, a film written and directed by the beloved auteur. It’s not based on a comic book, but Coppola’s new film will be in Hall H at 11:45AM to hopefully generate a ton of heat for its late 2011 release.
Cyclopes, Drunk Robots, and the Planet Express
For having faith in a show thought long cancelled. Futurama has been back for a year now, and the cult fave will be at Ballroom 20 at 12:15 to preview footage from the Futurama Japanese Anime and a preview of the this summer’s season. Along for the panel are Matt Groening and David X. Cohen (Futurama’s creators), as well as stars Billy West (Fry), Katey Sagal (Leela), and John DiMaggion (Bender).
Yellow Fever at ComiCon…
Holy crow, The Simpsons has been officially been on television for a generation. Can anyone remember a world without them? Heck, the pure notion of such a thing is profoundly odd. What on Earth did people watch on Sundays pre–1989? Fans can go to Ballroom 20 at 1PM to help Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Anderson, and Tom Gammill for a celebratory panel and Q&amp;A session, as the show gets ready for its 23rd season and 500th episode.
Batman and his bad girls…
What fun-filled day at Comic-Con would be complete without a Batman-centric panel? At 1PM in room 26AB will be a philosophical and psychological discussion “Psychology of the Dark Knight: How Trauma Formed the Batman and Why He’s Got a Thing for Bad Girls,” which features psychologist Travis Langley (Henderson State), Robin Rosenberg (Psychology of Superheroes), Michael Uslan, and Catwoman herself, Lee Meriwether, all dissecting the realism of Batman’s never-ending war on crime; as well as his attraction to women like Selina Kyle and Pamela Isley.
JMS, the hardest working writer in Comicdom…
He’s the creator of Babylon 5, and the comic book saga, Rising Stars. He’s written for Superman, Spider-Man,and Silver Surfer, as well as contributed to the scripts for Thor, and the upcoming World War Z. There might not be anything on this planet that J. Michael Straczynski can’t put a new and exciting spin on, and he’s bringing that unique vision to Room 7AB at 2PM to discuss what its liking writing for so many genres and mediums, and put the “Spotlight” on himself and his future.
Mayor Adam West...
“Family Guy” voice actors, Alex Borstein (Lois), and Seth Green (Chris) and the esteemed Adam West will be giving Ballroom 20 a sneak peek at season 10 and the upcoming episode, “Stewie Goes for a Drive," at 2PM. Sorry, no Seth MacFarlane announced as of this writing, but MacFarlane’s sister Rachel, along with Scott Grimes, and Wendy Schaal will be in the room at 2:35 to present a preview the new season of their show, American Dad.
The studios were bound to mine old folk tales for new films sooner or later…
As evidenced by the recent Little Red Riding Hood, Hollywood is now tapping into many of our childhood favorites and twisting them into dark fairy tales to make a new genre (which for the record, Todd MacFarlane already started with his “Twisted World of Oz” toys, but I digress). Hall H at 3:30 is where Universal Studios will be showing off some scenes of their upcoming twisted tale, Snow White and the Huntsmen, starring Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, and Chris Hemsworth, who will all be on hand to discuss the flick. Here’s hoping they cast Kenny Baker as Doc.
Speaking of Folk Tales, NBC is joining that bandwagon as well…
Fans might need to check their drawers for this one, because the geektastic tri–fecta of creative minds from Buffy, Angel, and The X–Files are reimagining the world of Grimms’ fairy tales in NBC’s newest series, Grimm. The twist on the folk tales is an exciting one, as a homicide detective learns that he is a descendent of a group of hunters called Grimms, who are tasked with protecting the world from the supernatural creatures that lived in the fairy tales. If that sounds interesting , then get to Room 6A at 4:15PM for the “Grimm Pilot Screening and Q&amp;A,” with the producers and cast.
Comicdom’s most prolific artist since Jack Kirby…
Creating WildC.A.T.S. as well as helping to re–envision the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel, among many other accomplishments in comic books is something to be amazed by, and make no mistake–Jim Lee’s artwork is nothing short of amazing. In 6DE at 4:30 “DC Focus: Jim Lee,” brings the most in demand artist in the industry, now a co–publisher of DC Entertainment, to showcase his new looks for some of the World’s Greatest Superheroes. Then, join Lee Sunday at 3 in 28DE to see how the master himself works in “Drawing with Jim Lee.”
So wait, Peter now never existed?!...
Fans of Fringe are still reeling and scratching their noggins from the wildest twist in the series’ history, and that’s a hard feat to pull off considering this show is about alternate Earths who are at war with one another because a scientist lost his son to an illness in 1985 and then kidnapped the alternate version of that son in what became a successful attempt to save him from the same fate but caused dangerous rips within the fabric of reality. Phew — lot going on, no? Trust me that sentence makes perfect sense to fans of the show, who will no doubt pack Ballroom 20 at 4:30PM to hang out with series stars, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, John Noble, and Anna Torv to preview the third season DVD and the upcoming season. Hopefully we’ll get some clue as to what happened to Peter (played by Joshua Jackson), who is still on the show, despite seemingly no longer existing.
Yes, he IS supposed to be here today…
Almost twenty years ago, Kevin Smith became a household name in fanboy circles. The creator of the ViewAskewniverse, as well as writer of the excellent “Daredevil: Guardian Devil” and “Green Arrow: Quiver” comic books is coming to Comic-Con for his annual “Early Evening with Kevin Smith,” at 5:45 in Hall H, where the director will bring his usual anything goes Q&amp;A to the Con. Nothing will be off–limits here, and trust me get to this one early if you want a seat.
Debunking all kinds of hokum since 2003…
Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman, and the rest of their team have worlds of fun at their job – being Mythbusters! The group will be at Room 6BCF at 7:45 for their annual Saturday panel, discussing what myths are being trounced in the show’s tenth season.
Now’s your chance to catch some of the panels you missed…
I’m sure you spent a great deal of time agonizing over which panels to go see and which panels had to fall by the wayside of your schedule. Let’s face it; no one can see it all at Comic-Con. But that’s why at 8PM in Room 25ABC will be a three–hour marathon of all of the best panels from Hall H and Ballroom 20!
Sookies everywhere, along with Fetts, Elves, and Robots of all universes…
True Blood is definitely an obsession of many a TV junkie, and Comic-Con is giving the fans of the show a vampire-inspired Masquerade Ball. So get your Merlotte outfits, Fett suits, and white Rogue hair streaks on and head to Ballroom 20, 5AB, or 6A, for the whole fangbangin’ party, starting at 8:30 and judged by writer/artists, Phil and Kaja Foglio.
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When crafting a follow-up to the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time it’s understandable that one might be reticent to mess with a winning formula. But director Todd Phillips and writers Craig Mazin and Scot Armstrong seem to have confused revisiting with recycling: The Hangover Part II so closely mirrors its blockbuster predecessor in every vital aspect that it can scarcely claim the right to call itself a sequel.
The only significant new wrinkle introduced in Part II is its setting: Bangkok Thailand a location that at least theoretically augurs well for a second helping of inspired lunacy. The story structure of the first film has been copied wholesale a game of Mad Libs played with its script. The action is again set around a bachelor party this time in honor of buttoned-down dentist Stu (Ed Helms). Again the boys (Stu Bradley Cooper’s boorish frat boy Phil and Zach Galifianakis’ moronic man-child Alan) awaken the next day in a hideously debauched hotel room with little memory of the previous night’s revelry. And again there is a missing companion: Teddy (Mason Lee son of Ang) the brother-in-law to be. (Poor Justin Bartha is once again relegated to the sidelines popping up now and then to push the plot forward via cell phone.)
The amnesiac/investigative angle of the first Hangover made for a refreshing twist on the contemporary men-behaving-badly comedy. Repeated here its effect is arguably the opposite: Too often the action feels rote and formulaic. Gone is any hint of surprise an aspect so crucial to good comedy and a huge part of the first film’s appeal. Key comic set pieces – a tussle with monks at a Buddhist temple a visit to a transsexual brothel a car chase involving a drug-dealing monkey – reveal themselves to be merely variations of memorable bits from the first film.
Tonally Part II is darker cruder and a bit nastier than its predecessor. Female characters never a priority in the first film are further marginalized in the sequel. (The only woman with significant dialogue a Bangkok prostitute also happens to have a penis. I’ll let you ponder the implications of that one.) The three leads Helms Cooper and Galifianakis still work well together and despite the inferior material enough of their chemistry remains to make the proceedings bearable – and occasionally funny. But their characters feel somehow degraded reduced to coarse caricatures of their former selves. Speaking of caricature Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) the fey faux-gangsta villain of the first film returns in an expanded capacity in the sequel his garbled hip-hop slang more gratuitous – and more grating – than before.
I can’t help but wonder what might have been if a planned cameo by Mel Gibson playing a tattoo artist hadn’t been scrapped reportedly due to objections by Galifianakis. Liam Neeson Gibson’s replacement apparently proved ineffectual in his first go-round and when he wasn't available for re-shoots his scene was eventually shot with Nick Cassavetes in the role. In its existing incarnation the scene is purely functional a chunk of forgettable exposition. The presence of Gibson an actor of not inconsiderable comic talent would have at least added an air of unpredictability something the scene – and indeed the movie – sorely lacks.